December 25th is well known as the birthday of various pagan gods.
A Roman calendar drawn up by a “Christian” in 354 A.D. (The Codex Calendar of 354) shows December 25 to be the birthday of Sol Invictus. Not only is it listed as a pagan birthday; but, it is listed as the most important pagan birthday of the whole year. It was celebrated in the Roman Circus with extra chariot races. This is the sun god that Constantine the Great worshipped while claiming to be a “Christian.” His coins state that he was “committed to Sol Invictus.” Constantines’ form of “Christianity” continues to influence Christianity today. December 25th is just
one example. Satan wants to be “God.” The first four commandments tell us who “God” really is. Satan hates that and has done everything possible to abrogate those commandments. Calling December 25th the birthday of Jesus is nothing less than sticking a pagan god in the face of the “God” of the Bible – a direct violation of the first commandment.
There was no consensus among third and fourth scholars as to the birthday of Jesus. Different scholars gave many different dates. It seems that January 6th was one of the more popular choices during that time period.
Before the fourth century, the only possible reference to December 25 as the birthday of Jesus is assumed from the writings of Hippolytus. In his writings he indicates that Jesus was born on Passover, which would be either March 25th or April 2nd. Those who desire a December 25th birthday have theorized that Hippolytus really meant “conception” instead of “birth,” therefore nine months after “conception” the baby would be born on December 25th. A study of his other writings however, indicates that the Greek word he chose does indeed mean “birth.” An ancient monument of Hippolytus, now in the Lateran Museum in Rome, shows April 2nd as the birthday of Christ.
There is no record of a December 25th celebration of the birth of Christ in Rome earlier than 336. In Constantinople, no record of a celebration before 378. In Alexandria, not before 400; and in Jerusalem, not before 425.
The bottom line is that there are no reliable historical documents that would place the birth of Jesus on December 25th. On the other hand, there is overwhelming documentation that the birthday of many of the sun gods of antiquity was recognized as December 25th.
In 273 A.D. Aurelian brought the worship of Baal, from Syria, back to Rome, and instituted the cult of Sol Invictus, which combined the worship of all the pagan sun gods into one – “Sol Invictus.” A few years earlier, the Roman emperor Elogabalus had unsuccessfully attempted to make the worship of the sun god Baal the predominant religion in Rome. The way Aurelian was able to get everyone, with their own specific sun gods, to be happy, was by proclaiming December 25th to be the birthday of Sol Invictus. They recognized December 25th as the birthday of their own god, therefore they were happy with the new name “Sol Invictus” – The Invincible Sun. Because of the association with December 25th. they recoginzed Sol Invictus as their own God.
The abominable worship of Tammuz, as spoken of in the book of Ezekiel, is related to December 25th. Today visitors to Bethlehem are taken to a subterranean cave, under the “Church of the Nativity” and are told that Jesus was born there on December 25th. It was Helena, the mother of Constantine, who declared that site to be the birth place of Christ. Jesus was not born there. It is a pagan sun worship cave in honor of Tammuz. The “church” historian Jerome, who wrote the Latin “Vulgate” tells us that Tammuz was worshipped there. He ought to know. His school was right next door. In fact, the back door of his school leads into the temple of Tammuz. In spite of all these facts, thousands of unknowing Christians bow down and kiss the spot in the niche where the idol of Tammuz was placed. Although theologians know, they will not tell people the truth. They will be held accountable.
Our Christian ancestors knew better. The celebration of December 25th was illegal in England. It was outlawed in New England from 1649 to 1658. The December 25th celebration was condemned for its pagan roots by the Puritans, the Methodists, the Quakers, the Amish, the Presbyterians, and the Baptists. Why would they do that if there was not a legitimate problem? Christmas was made a legal holiday in Massachusetts in 1856.
Considering these facts, it is not unreasonable for a person to want to disassociate himself from a pagan birthday that never had anything to do with Christ Jesus. The Bible says that “to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” We are only responsible for what we know. Even so, we must not be “willingly ignorant.” Once this information is made known, everyone will have to make their own decision.
In closing, let us not forget that at Mt. Sinai the people declared the celebrations associated with the “golden calf” to be “a feast to the LORD.” He wanted to kill them all, and would have, except for the intervention of Moses. We cannot decide for ourselves what is right and wrong. That is what Satan wants us to do. We cannot proclaim a known pagan birthday to be in honor of Jesus, just because we think it is a good thing to do.
Dear Richard
Thank you for a very informative video series on how paganism has so infiltrated the Christian church. But my question to you is a statement I should like to repeat to you concerning Christmas made by a woman of God whom I’m sure you know very well, E.G White.
While Sister White acknowledges that there is no scriptural or historical evidence to suggest December 25th to be our Lords birth date and she also states that , “There is no divine sanctity resting upon the twenty-fifth of December”, she does however go on to say , “It can be made to serve a very good purpose.” and “It should not be ignored by children.”
She also goes on to say, “the desire to make gifts may be turned into pure and holy channels, and made to result in good to our fellow men by supplying the treasury in the great, grand work for which Christ came into our world.”
She also confirms that erecting a Christmas tree is also acceptable, “let not the parents take the position that an evergreen placed in the church for the amusement of the Sabbath school scholars is a sin; for it may be made a great blessing. Keep before their minds benevolent objects. In no case should mere amusement be the object of these gatherings. While there may be some who will turn these occasions into seasons of careless levity, and whose minds will not receive the divine impress, to other minds and characters these seasons will be highly beneficial.”
It is clear that Sister White believes that not only observing Christmas is accpetable but also errecting a Christmas tree is acceptable as long as the attention of the memebers of your household and your children are directed to Christ as the reason for Christmas and not directed to self.
As she states, “let us on Christmas make special efforts to come before the Lord with gifts and grateful offerings for the gift of Jesus Christ as a Redeemer to the world.”
You stated on your web site that on the title, DECEMBER 25TH, A HAPPY BIRTHDAY?
Quote:
“Considering these facts, it is not unreasonable for a person to want to disassociate himself from a pagan birthday that never had anything to do with Christ Jesus.”
My question to you is this:
Was E.G White wrong in what she said concerning Christmas? Should she have advised believers to ‘disassociate themselves’ and avoid Christmas ?
It does appear that your statements concerning the pagan origin of Christmas, which I do not disagree with, contradict the statements of Sister White, whom I also hold in the highest esteem.
I would greatly appreciate your valuable insight on this matter.
Daniel.
Daniel… Why do you hold Ellen White in high esteem? Are you aware that she failed the Biblical test for a prophet? Walter Martin exposed the details very clearly. I’m not saying that she wasn’t saved nor am I saying she wasn’t Christian but the King James Bible is the Words of God and she contradicted God’s Words on multiple ocassions.
Daniel, as an SDA myself, I remember the very first Christmas in the church to this day. Here the Church rails against Roman Catholicism, and rightly so yet accepts the pagan SUNday (paganism) by decorating and singing songs of pagan origin. The inconsistencies are astonishing!
While I do believe Sister White is a special light for our time I’m also convinced she was not shown the light here because it wasn’t part of the larger work of the Cosmic Conflict Series.
My firm belief is that had the light been given to Mrs. White of our modern times surrounding everything regarding this pagan holy day; the gluttonous​ nature whether by food, gift giving and/or acquirring massive amounts of debt, the Prophet would have surely rejected it!
Hope that helps,
David Moorman
Ellen G White is well known as the founder of Seventh Day Adventism. I am not a learned theologian, in fact, i am the first in my generation to return to Christ in my family, followed by my Mother, younger brother and father (albeit shortly before his passing). I believe in keeping the commandments of God, for it is that belief, instilled in me in my early twenties by the Holy Spirit of God, that led me to repent for my life of unbelief, and turned me towards God by faith in the Lord Jesus. However, i soon learned that if i thought i could keep the commandments of God, and thence please God, that i was totally hopeless and helpless in that regard. No man except the perfect one, that is, Jesus Christ, could keep the commandments of God without sin; and no one, except Christ dwelling within him, can do so now or ever. I now believe, after living by faith for the past quarter century, that faith in Christ alone and only, without any works whatsoever, will save my soul and — alone — qualify me the ‘robe of righteousness’ which is the gift of God. That is, while i continue to believe it is my duty to obey God and not lie, steal, commit adultery, commit fornication, and to reverence God throughout the week (not just on one specific day), i have determined that only by my continuing to believe in Christ, and His perfect and complete finished work on the Cross, will i ever get to see Him; and to be found without fault by Him. My pastor, my church, my family, my community of elders; and myself (of course), can not do anything essential to forgive my sins, or give me saving faith or true righteousness (though indeed, they can edify me). Now, to the point: in your article (and your church?) you appear to suggest that Ms White is correct by insisting that true Christians are those (and only those) who worship God on Saturday. Mr Rives clearly believes that this is correct. However, my only question for yourself AND Mr. Rives, is: do you mean to say that only your church and your theology is true? That is, that any Christian who does not worship or serve God on a specific day, is going to be delivered into Hell? Does Christ ever say such a thing? Mr. Rives i appeal not to your reason but to your heart, and i pray you will repent for your arrogance. The Lord Jesus is clearly the Lord of the Sabbath; and His only concern is that you love Him. If you have Him, then you have the Father also. But you are definitely mistaken, if you still believe (in this day and age) that by keeping a day of worship for a specific day, that it means you truly love Jesus. In the same way that the Pharisees thought they were doing good by crucifying Christ ‘lawfully,’ you probably believe and feel that your obedience to a commandment means you love God and Christ. This type of belief is not faith but works; it is religion of man but it is not what St Paul called ‘true religion,’ from the heart of a true Jew.
There is no mention of a specific day of worship on my part for we can worship Him anyday and should and you obviously are reading something into this that is not there. I never said Mrs. White was correct and I am not a Seventh Day Adventist.
Samuel, I believe you may be slightly inaccurate. The way to present yourself before God spotless and without blemish is to confess your sins, in my opinion, as soon as possible after committing one to Christ and as for His forgiveness. That is how we show ourselves without sin. And as far as loving God goes, both the old and new testaments quote God as telling us that if we love Him, keep His commandments. So by keeping His commandments we show Him we love Him. I mean, if our created ancestors had kept God’s commandments, we probably wouldn’t be having this discussion right now. You said Christ’s only concern is that we love Him. And if we love Him we have the Father. Enoch walked with God and was translated before Christ was born. Why? Because He kept God’s ways, He walked with Him. If you love Jesus, then keep His commandments.
Well said Sam Michael. The next obvious question for modern evangelicals to answer correctly is – Which Commandments? The answer from the Bible is – ALL of them. Including the commandment to keep the Passover (and NOT Easter) and the Seventh Day NOT Sunday (I’m not advocating Seventh Day Aventism either). Paul kept the Mosaic laws (God’s Laws) (Acts 25:8 KJB) and Christ said that those who do and teach them WILL BE called great in the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 5:17-20 KJB). Keeping the commandments does not get us saved, it is the way to express Love towards God and the Brethren in Christ.
Paul reveals to us in Ephesians 2:10 that the believer is created unto “good works”. We are to be zealous of “good works”. We are going to be judged by our works whether they are wrought in Elohim. So, what is a good work? The apostle Paul in Romans 7 states that “the Law” is holy, just and good. It is spiritual. Do you want to live a spirit filled life full of good works, then keep guard and obey the Law. But how? Continue on in Romans chapter 8. Notice that in the flesh we cannot possibly keep Yahweh’s Laws. BUT, in the Spirit given to us at our new birth, we can and do. Notice, that in the Spirit the Law is actually “fulfilled” in us even as Yahshua “fulfilled” the Law in His life. This can only be done by faith in the operative power of the Holy Spirit indwelling within us. And oh, by the way the stars are still shinning and the moon just past it’s fullness and I am quite sure the sun will again rise in the East. Check out Matthew 5:17-19.